


Even Heroes Screw Up

by PrincessAmericaChavez



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, MLB, post volpina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-28 00:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6307432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/pseuds/PrincessAmericaChavez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Aren't you ashamed of what you just did?!" Adrien'd asked. </p><p>Yes, Marinette was very, very ashamed. This wasn't how Ladybug should act. Maybe she didn't deserve the name after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Heroes Screw Up

Adrien was upset and Marinette didn't know what to do. It happened ever so often, he came to school with a long face and hunched shoulders, he barely responded to Nino or anyone around him. Her heart hurt just looking at him, and yet she couldn't stop  _looking_. After the scare in the Eiffel Tower, she couldn't stop thinking about how horribly unbearable loosing him would be. She'd been willing to do the unthinkable to save him, and she would do it again. She'd do it even if it only meant seeing him smile.

And so, she did the unthinkable: she collected every ounce of her courage and went to talk to him.

"He- Hey, Adrien?" She stammered, catching up with him as they walked out of school.

He turned around and gave her a surprised look, glancing around as if he couldn't believe she was talking to him. She rarely dared to. Still, as soon as he realized she was, in deed, calling for him, he gave her that sweet smile that melted her insides. She forgot how to speak.

"Hey, Marinette! Uh- Marinette?"

"What- Where? Oh, yeah. Me," she quickly straightened up. "I- uh... Well, I wanted to ask if you are... you know... okay?"

"Me? Yeah, why..."

"You look, well, not very happy," she tried, knowing the blush on her face was as red as her Ladybug suit.

"Oh," he looked down. The sadness on his face sobered her. Something _was_ wrong. 

"What is it?"

"It's just, something that happened yesterday with Ladybug."

"Oh, that?" She started, then corrected herself quickly. "Uh, I mean. I _heard_ about it. Wow, news travel so fast around the school don't they?"

"Eh, yes. I guess," he shrugged looking uncomfortable. "I just... I've been thinking about that, I guess. I just can't believe she'd do something like that."

"Lila?"

"No, _Ladybug._ She's not- I mean, she doesn't seem to be like that. I can't believe she'd be so  _mean_."

"M- mean?" The word gave Marinette pause. "She's not mean."

"I know, but she _was_ yesterday. And I- I don't know what to think."

Marinette felt her heart sink to her feet. Adrien, who was so sweet and nice, who thought the best of everyone, _even_ Chloe, he thought she was mean. He thought Marinette was mean. Well, Ladybug, but they were the same. 

"She- She was probably just angry," she tried to fix. "I don't think she meant it. I- I mean... I don't know, really. I don't know her. That'd be crazy. But..."

"Yeah, maybe," Adrien let out a heartbreaking sigh and Marinette wanted to cry. Then, he tried to smile and it was even worse. "Thanks for worrying, Mari. I'll be fine."

"Uh- sure." Any other day, that smile would've made her the happiest girl in the world. Right now, it just felt off.

She watched him go and get inside his car, wishing with all her heart and Akuma would open the Earth in two and swallow her hole.

* * *

Patrol that night was quiet. Marinette wished it'd been busy enough to quiet her troubled thoughts. Instead, she found herself putting them out loud. The dark Parisian rooftops made her thoughtful and melancholic. Chat Noir was quiet by her side too, which didn't help.

"Would you have liked it?" She finally asked, tugging her knees against her chest. She didn't meet his eyes, but she could feel them on her.

"Liked what, My Lady?" He grinned. "You and I together? I think it would be _Purr_ fect."

"No," she frowned annoyed, still not looking at him. "Volpina... being a miraculous holder."

"She wasn't," he said dryly. "She was akumatized."

"Yeah, but if it'd been true? I mean, she was doing great-"

"It was all an illusion, Ladybug," he insisted. He tried to sound light hearted, but she recognized worry in his voice. 

"Yeah, but I keep thinking she would've made a better Miraculous holder. I mean, she didn't get anyone akumized," she pouted, eyes sad as she remembered the look on Adrien's face. "

Chat frowned by her side. He probably agreed. He couldn't disagree with her in that. This one had been her fault. She'd been mean and cruel and hard on a girl she hardly knew.

Without a word, he extended his staff until it touched the street beneath them. He was probably living. Instead, sat on top of it so that he could face her. A black gloved hand rested on her shoulder. She looked up. 

"So, you screwed up," he shrugged, smiling. "Who cares? I screw up all the time. Remember the Copy Cat? That was totally on me, right? And you didn't blame me. Besides," his eyes turned softer, "you apologized."

"Yeah, but-" 

"My lady, there is no one who could do this better than you," he told her, passion palpable in his voice. "And there is no one I would rather do this with."

"Are you sure?" She tilted her head. 

Adrien hadn't seen Ladybug this vulnerable since their first mission together. She looked so unsure, it was unsettling. 

"Ladybug," he kept his smile on, "I have never met someone kinder, or braver, or smarter than you. You were even willing to sacrifice your miraculous to save that boy you don't even know!"

"Adrien," the word came automatically to Ladybug's lips and he wanted to scream. He loved the sound of his name when she said it. It sounded so much prettier. "I couldn't let him die." She said it matter-of-factly. Not like she was worried, but like she  _couldn't_ physically let it happen. It made his heart jump. Stupid. She didn't even  _know_ him.

"Yeah, but he was okay," he tried to reassure her, remembering the broken look on her face when she'd thought he was in danger. No one'd ever looked at him like that before. 

"Yeah... but I couldn't take the risk," she sighed, then she looked up with a smile that still had a tint of sadness. "I'm so lucky I had you there to see the truth, kitty cat."

His chest swelled with pride. 

"Of course, My Lady. Just don't ever do that again. Please."

"It seemed like the only choice."

"Well, it wasn't," he frowned. "And you could've fallen off the Tower. And then-"

"Oh, silly cat," she smiled up at him, a bit more playfulness on his face, "I know you would've catch me."

He sighed deeply. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Still, he smiled and tilted her head. 

"Always, My Lady."


End file.
